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2025 QX30 Bilge Pumps wired to master switch?

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sdean

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I have a new 2025 10' Beam QX30 with Twin Yamahas. The 2 outside pontoons fill up with water as the motor mounts are leaking. But, my question is why are the bilge pumps wired to the Master Dash switch? The Automatic (Float) bilge pumps only work, when the entire Dash has power. Every boat I have owned by other Manufacturers the Automatic bilge was wires straight to the batteries, with an inline fuse only. They even bypassed the battery switches. Bennington is saying this is the correct wiring? I discovered this after overnight my boat was sitting very low in the water as the 2 outer toons had filled up with water, I had turned the master power switch on the dash off.. I started leaving the master switch after this, But, this is causing excessive drain, causing battery to go dead. The other issue is the switches in Automatic mode light up constantly, causing another extra drain.

Thought/Opinion:
1. Should the Bilge pumps be connected to the dash master power switch?
2. Should the Lights on on the pump switch be on constant in Automatic mode? My other boat the light comes on only when the pumps is discharging water, then shuts off.

Obviously, the bigger issue is the toons filling up with water, but that will be resolved I am sure. It has caused me to focus on these other details.

thanks for weighing in.

Dean
 
Welcome. Sounds like an incredible Bennington. If so inclined, share some pictures of that beauty!

While I don’t swim in those big league pontoon waters, I can quickly answer your first question: Yes, your pontoon is wired correctly per Bennington’s approach.

Long winded reply: Bennington always wires the bilge pump to the master dash switch. Their philosophy with doing so is as a battery safety/preservation step to prevent draw down for folks with long gaps between boat usage. There are a few members that have re-wired the bilge pump directly to the battery themselves because they want to leave it on auto when away. Suffice it to say, that’s Bennington’s approach and reason for it. Some other manufacturers may have other philosophies about it.

I guess I am curious if you are actually getting much water in that center pontoon that you need to worry about having the bilge pump on auto when away from it? I have almost never gotten any water in my center pontoon, even though I have in-toon storage. I realize mine stays pretty dry on its own compared to others, so as a result I rarely have to run my bilge pump at all.

As for dash lights, my dash light switches are always lit up if I have them flipped on. Always. But I also have an older 2017 dash, and not a nicer Q dash, so mine or older toggle style switches, not the newer button type switches. So I don’t know 100% if your situation is typical on the newer high end Bennington’s, but I suspect it is as a constant reminder you have that turned on.
 
Thanks.

Both my Outside toons leak where the motors mount through the toon. My center toon stays dry!

but, overnight it was very low in the water as both outside toons filled up with water! Dash master was off, as I always turn it off at night, it kills the Radio and the Garmin.

I am sure the leak, will be fixed. I would think a Bilge pump would have zero draw unless there was water in there, in that case you want it to work! My last 2 boats, Cobalt, Monterey brands both had the bilges direct wired to the battery. They even bypassed the on/off battery switch.

The boat sits in the water when we are out for a few weeks on the lake. normally, it is on a dry lift or in the barn.


Thanks,
Dean
 
That’s a gorgeous boat!

Super sorry to hear you have leaks in those outside pontoons. Should be easy fixes. We had some leaky welds on our port side pontoon develop in 2019. Covered under warranty. Local aluminum welder took care of the entire process, and has been good as new ever since.

I think there’s a good case to be made either way on the wiring of bilge pumps. Different manufacturers have different philosophies. I also think type of boat manufacturer plays a role here too. If you were to only get water in that center pontoon, the boat is still safe and stable on a tritoon. Now on a regular boat, v-hull, etc….no room for the hull filling up…gotta have that bilge ready at any time water leaks in.
 
We redid our all three of our bilge pumps float switches to be wired direct on our 30 Q. The seal on the hatch covers seem to let water easily leak into the the toons at the stern. We don't seem to get much water in the center toon, it's always the outside two with motors.
 
I had my bilge pump wired directly to the batteries by the dealer, so as to not affect the warranty.
 
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